It is often desirable for network connected systems to identify frames within network communications for later processing such as debug processing. However, existing solutions provide limited options for identification of frames. For example, one prior solution relies upon dedicated hardware to parse network frames and to compare header contents within those frames to fixed reference values. These comparisons are based upon data extracted from fixed locations or fields within a frame header, and only a specific pre-determined sequence will be detected as frames are streamed into the system. Prior solutions, therefore, lack flexibility with respect to debug processing.